Radiator foe cooling fluids



S., W. RUSHMORE RADIATOR FOR COQLIING FLUIDS Filed Sept. 13 1921 gwen/toa.

May 15, 1923.

Patented May 15, 1923.

PATENT OFFICE.

UNITED STATES SAMUEL W. RUSHMORE, OF PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY.

RADIATOR FOR COOLING FLUIDS.

Application filed September To all whom t may conce/Mt.'

Be it known that I, SAMUEL l/V. RUSH- Monn, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Plainfield, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Radiators for Cooling Fluids, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention is shown as embodied in an air cooled radiator suitable for use in connection with the internal combustion engines used on automobiles, trucks,

.flying machines, etc.; and certain features of the invention are especially useful when the radiator is used as an up'liow steam condenser operating in accordance with the method described in my Patent 1,378,724, granted May 17th, 1921; but it will be evident that various features of the invention may be employed for other purposes and in other relations.

The illustrative embodiment disclosed herein is a radiator of the type in which the honeycomb or heat radiating element of the structure is built up of horizontal tubes formed and assembled in short parallel lengths with the tubular interiors serving as front-to-rear draft passages for the cooling air, while the interspaces between the tubes afford a multiplicity of parallel paths for up or down iow of the iiuid which is to be cooled. The tubes may be square or hexagonal or round in cross section, preferably bearing upon each other at the end portions only, said portions being enlarged so as to properly space apart the intermediate or body portions of adjacent tubes. The enlarged ends of the tubes are preferably hexagonal so that they naturally lit together solidly when assembled in properly staggered rows. While a hexagonal shape is more `desirable as requiring less deformation and expansion of the ends of the tubes, neverthelessyso far as concerns the main functional features of my invention the ends might be squares or equilateral triangles. y

In the case of radiatorsdesigned for water cooling, the hexagonal ends must be enlarged to a very considerably greater diameter than the body portion in order to afford considerable interspaces for the required low resistance flow of water therethrough; and the required enlargement must be maintained for all tubes throughout the radiator from top to bottom. Such enlargement 13, 1921.. Serial N0. 500,381.

frequently results in splitting of the metal during the expanding operation, and the losses from this cause are considerable.

Vhcn operating as an up-flow steam condenser, however, the volume of up-going steam and returning condensate is greatest at the bottom and becomes less and less the higher up it extends in the radiator. l, therefore, construct my radiator of tubes all having the same size for the enlarged ends, square or hexagonal, as the case may be, but the body portions between the enlarged ends are of progressively larger diameter, giving progressively smaller interspaces toward the top of the radiator. Thus at the bottom of the radiator the air liow section is small and the steam and water section is considerable, while at the top, the air flow section is greater and the steam and water section is smaller.

As a result of this construction, the upper part of my radiator shows an increase in the developed air cooled surface of 15% to 20% over that available where the tubes are all of the relatively small cross section as required when water is used as a cooling medium. This makes it possible to embody a greater air cooled surface area in a given front area, with a proportional reduction in front resistance to passage through the air at high speed. This is of great importance on all high speed vehicles particularly air-planes.

Furthermore, by reducing the amount to which the ends of the tubes have to be expanded, I effect a considerable reduction in cost of manufacture and practically eliminate waste due to splitting of the ends in the expanding dies, which is now a serious item of expense in the cost of manufacture of water cooling radiators of this type. Where the steam is boiled oHi' from the water in close proximity with the lowermost row ofthe tubes, as in practice of my patented method, the splashing of the water may make it desirable to have the interspaces for the lowermost rows of tubes almost as large as those now used for water cooling. From the bottom up, however, the required interpaces permit using larger tubes with only slightly expanded ends. It would be desirable to make the tubes progressively larger for each succeeding higher row, but in most cases it will be found that sufficiently good results can be achieved and the cost of manufacture very desirably decreased,

by using one size for several rows, so that only a limited number of sizes is required.

The above andother features of my invention may be more liully iinderstood trom the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a front elevation showing the req lations ot the air passages in 'one type et radiator constructed in accordance with my present invention;

Fig. 2 is a detail end view showing the internal side supports for the tubes in structure shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the assembled tubes shown in Fig. 2.

It will be understood that Fig. l is on a reduced scale; thatthe scale tor Figs. 3, Ll, and 5 is somewhat larger; and that the scale ol Figs. 2 and 2l is still larger.

Figs. 3, il, and 5 are sectional detail views showing the proportions and relations ot three adjacent tubes in three ditlerent groups on the levels oi dotted lines 3 3, l-lh and 5 5, respectively, olv F l;

Fig. 6, 7, and 8 are practically full size end views of the three sizes oli tubes employed. V

ln these drawings the tubes constituting thehoneycomb are sho-wn as having body portions l which are expanded at the ends to form hexagonal enlargements 2. The tubes are all ot' the same length, and may be, say or 3 inches', and the hexagonal enlargements are all ot the same diameter, and may be, say inch. The body portions l, however, are shown as ol three dit? :ferent sizes, varying from, say {linch for the size sho-wn in Figs. 3 and 6, to say 17g inch for the size shown in Figs. 5 and 8. l/Vhile actual sizes may vary quite widely, it will be evident rfrom the above that the minimum cross section for tlow of air througli the tubes may be two or three times `as great lor the upper tubes as tor the lower tubes, while the minimum interspaces 3, as indicated in Figs. El, ffr and 5, may be one-hall to one-quarter as great t'or the upper tubes as for the lower tubes. As shown in the drawings, the tubes having small body diameter andlarge interspaces, comprise the lower six rows, the next larger size the intermediate si); rows, and the largest size the top siX rows. Obviously, however, the dimensions, the number oit sizes employed, the number of rows of each size, number ot tubes in each row and the total number ot rows, may be varied within wide limits.

The honeycomb may be built up by assembling the tubes in any suitable support, and soldering or brazing the enlarged ends by dipping in moltentin or solder.

The body portion or shell oi the radiator comprises the peripheral wall ll and 'liront and .rear walls 5 and 6. rlhe thickness oi the radiator is approximately the same as the length of the tubes but the height of the radiator is such as to leave a space Y at the bottom and a space 8 at the top.

ln operation the steam in space 7 rises in the interspaces 3 to the height required 'for condensing it. The condensed water returns by gravity into the space 8 from which it may be withdrawn in any desired way.

For practice of the .invention described in my above-mentioned patent, the flow of boiling hot water and steam trom the water jacket oit the engine is short-circuited through the space 7, which then operates as a steam separating chamber, but it will be obvious that either hot water or steam from` any desired source, either separately or together, may be discharged in space 7. An linlet l'or the space 7 is conventionally in,- dicated at 9 and an outlet at 10.

The above described principles ot progressively narrowing the interspaces for decreasing the flow capacity of the interior' paths for the fluid to be cooled, as also progressively enlarging the sizes of the air passages to increase the cooling surface, may be practiced either separately or in combination, lor other than up-and-down variations o flow capacity and cooling rates. As tor instance where a centrally located lian throws a more powerful cooling draft on the central area of the honeycomb than elsewhere or where the sides of the honeycomb are ot less height than at the center, larger tubes `may be used, or the tubes may be more closely set, for the more ineffective portions of the honeycomb area.

l claim: y

l. An up-liow condenser comprising an air cooled radiator of the automobile type having upper and lower chambers; means tor discharging boiling water or steam into said lower chamber and i'vithdrawing water therefrom; and an intermediate core or Lhoneycomb embodying a multiplicity of transverse passages 'for vflow ol' the cooling air, the walls defining` said passages being spaced apart to ail'ord interspaees for flow ot' fluid medium to be cooled therein, said air passages at diili'erent levels being` of progressively larger flow section from bottom to top of the radiator and the interstices for up-'flow of steamvbeing of progressively less ilow section from bottom to top of the radiator.

2. An up-iiow condenser comprising an air cooled radiator having a multiplicity of transverse passages for flow ot' the cooling air, the walls defining said passages being spaced apart to afford interspac'es for flow ol fluid medium to be cooled therein, said interspaces being of progressively less {low-section toward the top ot' the radiator, the air passages being arranged in succes sive horizontal rows, with the horizontal distances between the axes ol adjacent paslll) sages in they same row substantially the same for all rows regardless of the diameters of the tubes comprising the rows'.

3. An up-flow condenser comprising an air Cooled radiator having a lower chamber; means for discharging boiling water or steam into said lower chamber and for withdrawing water therefrom comprising short horizontal tubes having enlarged hexagonal ends assembled in parallel relation withl the said hexagonal ends interfitting, the hexagonal ends being all of substantially the same diameter and the intermediate body portionsI of the tubesr being of smaller diaxiter for the lowermost l5 bottom of the radiator toward the top 20 thereof.

Signed at Plainfield, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, this 10th day of September, A. D. 1921. i

SAMUEL w. RUsHMoRE. 

